


Of Geese and Men

by Rorynne



Series: Clint Barton Bingo [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Geese, Human Disaster Clint Barton, Multi, Other, Physics homework
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-30 20:01:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21433888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rorynne/pseuds/Rorynne
Summary: You were having an average day until Clint Barton decides to harass a goose.Clint Barton Bingo Fill: College
Relationships: Clint Barton/Reader
Series: Clint Barton Bingo [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1512593
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	Of Geese and Men

**Author's Note:**

> This is also part of @Geosaurusrrex's 2k follower writing challenge on tumblr with the prompt “I need your homework because a goose ate mine. DONT ASK HOW”

You sat in the cafeteria eating your lunch and reading a book as you waited for your next class. It had been a rather typical day until a very wet, tall, vaguely familiar blond man approached you. You damn near jumped out of your skin when he slammed his hands down on the table, dripping water all over it. “You’re in Pym’s applied physics class.” He stated more than asked, which only served to confuse you more at his state. “I need your help.”

You blinked at the man, moving your things away from his dripping form as you tried to piece together what the hell was going on. “What?” was all that you managed to say to the man, completely dumbfounded. You had too many questions to know what to even begin to ask.

He huffed, carding his hand through his short hair. “I need your homework because a goose ate mine.”

Homework? Geese? What the hell was he even talking about? You shook your head, still reeling from the shock of it all, “How?”

“Don’t ask how!” He groaned, rubbing his face. “It’s a long story. I just need your homework, I’ve been doing the bare minimum in Pym’s class and I can’t afford to take a zero on it.” Slowly, things started to piece together. You remembered seeing him occasionally, rarely even, in your physics class, albeit in a much drier state. Clint was his name if you remembered correctly. But that wasn’t what mattered at the moment, instead, you were more focused on something else.

“We had homework?!” You squeaked out as you scrambled to take out your course syllabus from your bag. 

“You’re kidding,” Clint said in horrified disbelief. “You’re the only person who even pays attention in his class. How could you not know? He assigned it a month ago.” You shot him a glare as the syllabus confirmed his claims. Two full chapters of course work due the day of the first test. You wanted to vomit. You had been working your ass off to get on the Dean’s list this semester. But now all of your efforts felt wasted, all because of one little mistake. If you weren’t so shocked, you’d cry.

Clint seemed to notice your distress, quickly changing his entire demeanor. “Hey, it’s okay.” He reassured. “It’s gonna be okay. We’ve got, what, two hours til Pym’s class?” He glanced at the clock on the wall, confirming the time with a nod. Looking back down at you, he picked up your bag from the table, “Come on, let’s get down to the library. We’ve got this.”

You looked at him, incredulous, was he seriously implying the two of you could get through a month’s worth of course work in two hours? You could count the number of times you had seen him in class on one hand. Did he even have any idea on how to properly do the homework? “You can’t seriously think we can complete two chapters in two hours.”

He shrugged, “It’s only one chapter if we split the work.” The way he said it made it seem like the easiest thing in the world. And strangely, you found yourself wanting to believe it. “Come on sweetheart, we don’t have all day, and neither of us wants our grades to tank right?”

You took a deep breath, “You’re right. And partial credit is better than no credit anyway.” You stood up and collected your things. “But,” you said, taking your bag from him. “I think the library has a wetness rule or two.”

He smiled sheepishly and surrendered your bag with a chuckle. “You make a fair point. I’ll meet you there. Just take what ever chapter you like more. I’ll take the scraps.” You nodded in response and hurried to the library as Clint dealt with his wet clothing.

It only took about ten minutes for Clint to join you in the library, much to your surprise. “What, did you sprint to the dorms? They’re at least 15 minutes away.” You commented, looking over Clint’s much drier form as he sat down.

He shook his head, his hair still noticeably damp. “I keep a spare change of clothes in my gym locker.”

You have him a look, “Does stuff like this happen often?” You questioned, vaguely concerned for the man’s life choices.

He took a deep breath, puffing out his cheeks before exhaling slowly. “More often than I’d care to admit.” He said before craning his neck over to see what you were working on. A smile spread across his lips as he read the chapter you were on. “You left me the trajectory chapter then?”

You looked down at your book and nodded, “Uh, yeah. I figured I would just start with the easier chapter.”

“Sweetheart, your gonna have to look at me when you talk.” He said, tapping his ear. “The lake water ruined my hearing aids.”

If his statement wasn’t so bizarre, you might have been embarrassed by your small blunder. “Excuse me, Lake water? What the hell did you exactly do?” You knew he had to have gotten wet somehow, but you didn’t expect it to be in the school lake. But then, there was a goose involved.

Clint rubbed the back of his neck, turning slightly pink. “My friend Tony bet me five hundred bucks to try to steal one of the goose’s eggs,” he said, playing with his pencil, not looking at you. “I, uh, didn’t expect the goose to be so mean.”

You stifled a laugh, “You didn’t- Have you ever seen a goose before?” You asked between giggles. “Mean is all a goose knows how to be.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He said, still pink-faced, but smiling before nudging you with his elbow. “I’m glad you got to have a good laugh out of it. I’ll be sure to tell you about some of my other adventures next time.” You had to admit, you were a little curious to hear what other trouble he had managed to get himself into. It seemed like a common occurrence for him.

“Maybe after we get this done.” You smiled pointing to your book. “You said it yourself, we don’t have much time to lose.”

“Alright then, consider it a date.” He said with a wink making your heart flutter before he opened his own, waterlogged, book. Part of you wanted to ask if he was joking about the date, but he spoke up before you could. “Let’s get this show on the road.” He grinned. You gave him a nod before filing your question away for later and turning your focus to your work.

The pair fo you quickly lost track of time between flirty banter and physics equations. You liked Clint. More than you expected to like someone who had rushed up to you dripping wet and demanding help. Actually, you liked him a lot more than you expected to like anyone you had just met. He was funny and deceptively smart for a man who was supposedly on the verge of failing the class. 

He finished his work long before you finished yours, claiming trajectories to be easy thanks to his experience with archery. Which was something he clearly loved far more than any of the classes he was taking. You could listen to him talk about it for hours with the way his face lit up when he did. He really had no business being as interesting as he was, you decided.

He was checking your work when you heard him swear. You looked up from your notes to see him scrambling to get his things together. “What’s going on?” You asked, eyes wide at his distress.

“We’re half an hour late to class!” He said, stuffing your work into your book and closing it, pushing it into your arms. Book in hand, you jumped up as if you had been electrocuted. 

“Shit. Pym isn’t going to let us into class!” You swore as you collected your things and hurried after Clint. 

“Don’t worry about it.” He said as he grabbed your hand and pulled you along with him. “I’ll just pick the lock. Just stick to the back row and he won’t notice.”

“Where the hell did you learn how to pick locks?” You asked as he pushed open the door to the physics building.

“A guy gets bored. I thought we already covered that I make questionable life choices.” Clint said quickly before stopping in front of an open classroom door, mouth agape.

You stopped next to him, eyes landing on a paper posted to the door frame. Phys 114, it read, canceled for the day. Signed Professor Pym. You stared at it dumbstruck. “All of that rushed work was for nothing?”

“Not for nothing.” Clint shrugged with a bob of his head. “If I recall, we did get a date out of the deal.”

You blinked and gave a small scoff of surprised laughter. “You were really serious about that?”

Clint frowned disappointment clear on his face, “Did you… Did you not want to?” 

“No!” You objected, “No it’s not that! I’d love to have a date with you. I just thought- It doesn’t matter what I thought. I would love a date. Just, maybe with no geese.”

Clint broke into a wide grin that made your heart flutter. “Can’t make any promises about that sweetheart. I did promise you stories about my adventures.”

You giggled as smiled, “Someone needs to protect the school’s goose population from you.”

“From me?!” He asked with false offense, lips turned up with laughter. “They ate my homework!”


End file.
